EFFECTS OF INTERSESSION DELAY AND TRAINING LEVEL ON AVOIDANCE EXTINCTION AND INTERTRIAL BEHAVIOR

After single-session avoidance training to criteria of 4 consecutive CRs (original learning, 4 trials; OL4), 10 consecutive CRs (OL10), or 10 CRs plus 150 overtraining trials (OLOT), subgroups of 10 albino rabbits received 150 extinction trials following intersession delay (ISD) of 7 min., or 1, 12, 24, 36, or 48 hr. Number of CRs in the 1st 30 extinction trials was maximal after 12 hr. in OL4, 24 hr. in OL10, and 48 hr. in OLOT. Intertrial responses were positively related to ISD. The results suggest that (1) incubation may be similar to increase over time in a stimulus generalization, (2) diurnal rhythm may produce test decrements following aperiodic ISDs under low OL, and (3) the Kamin effect occurs only for Ss given low OL. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1968 American Psychological Association.